“Bang, bang, bang!——”

The knocking on the door was continuous and the sound was deafening.

"Mrs. Li?! Come out quickly! Everyone is here to congratulate you!"

Amidst the chaotic noise, one particularly loud voice came from outside through the courtyard gate.

Before the four people in the courtyard could react, they heard a sudden rustling of footsteps in the main hall, followed by Li's high-pitched cursing voice:

"Who is it?! Why are you knocking in the middle of the day?"

Li walked very fast and in just a moment, she came over quickly.

When he saw the wooden basins and barrels placed on the ground not far from the well, and saw the wet heads of Hua Xiao and the others, and the cut hair on the ground, his expression suddenly became gloomy.

Hua Shi protected the three of them and stood back.

Then, Li, who was about to open the door, turned around and walked towards the three people.

Hua Shi looked at her somewhat ferocious expression and felt a pang in his heart, knowing that Li was going to cause trouble again.

However, just as Li put her hands on her hips and had not yet uttered a word of curse, someone knocked hard on the shabby little wooden door several times.

“Bang, bang, bang!——”

The sound and posture made it seem as if they wanted to knock the small wooden door into pieces.

Li was annoyed by what she heard. She glared at Hua Shi and the other three fiercely, then turned and walked towards the courtyard gate again.

Hua Shi breathed a sigh of relief, and pulled Hua Xiao and the other two back towards the main hall.

Listening to the noisy and bustling sounds outside, Hua Shi vaguely guessed something...

Could it be that... Hua Ciyuan passed the imperial examination?

"Bang!"

Li pulled the small wooden door open with great force, her impatience clearly visible on her face. She was about to glare at people and scold them, but she stopped when she saw the gate of the courtyard was blocked by people.

Although his expression was still somewhat annoyed and his brows were furrowed, at least he didn't curse out loud: "What's going on? A bunch of people gathered here...?"

Li patiently asked a few questions.

In the crowd, there were young men, women and men in their forties and fifties, and children of seven or eight years old who liked to run around...all of them gathered at the gate of the Hua family's courtyard.

Mrs. Li didn't notice anything wrong, but she felt uncomfortable when someone knocked on the door so hard and called her Mrs. Li.

The young man standing at the front, who was knocking the loudest, looked at Li with a smile and quickly told her the good news:

"Mrs. Li, your son is going to be promoted and become rich! He passed the imperial examination!"

When Mrs. Li heard the three words "Mrs. Li", she frowned at first, and then when she heard the word "passed the imperial examination", her expression immediately changed from impatience to surprise and joy.

"Really?!" Li stared and asked in shock.

"Of course it's true! I wouldn't lie to you! It's posted on the list, saying that officials will come to congratulate you in three days!"

Li was stunned by this huge surprise at first, but then she reacted, trembling her hands and feet, and holding on to the door frame, she barely stood up.

The man continued, "This news has spread all over the village! The list was posted this morning, and Mr. Hua was also checking it out. He should have been back by now, right? You don't seem to know anything about it. We thought you knew everything, and now everyone has come to congratulate you!"

Passing the imperial examination can be a big or small achievement. With this title, you can do whatever you want. Getting promoted, getting rich, buying land and a house, and becoming successful in life are all within a matter of minutes.

Unexpectedly, that poor man who had studied for more than thirty years passed the examination for a juren in just one year.

If I remember correctly, this was Hua Ciyuan's first provincial examination. He passed it on his first try, which is really impressive.

Li barely recovered from her great surprise and asked in a trembling voice, "You said my son went to see the list? Does that mean he knows too?"

"Yeah!" The man nodded and asked, "Why haven't you come back yet? That doesn't make sense!"

The man felt a little strange and looked around, but he couldn't find Hua Ciyuan.

Someone nearby said, "Maybe someone pulled him away to talk, and he couldn't come back, so we came here."

Li calmed down and looked outside. She didn't see Hua Ciyuan, so she felt uneasy. She stood up and pushed through the crowd.

"Let me go and look for it!"

It doesn't make sense. If Ciyuan really passed the exam, he wouldn't have stayed outside for so long and not come back. The list was released in the morning, and it's already noon. How could he not come back?

Without saying a word, Li went to the village road to look for someone. The crowd surrounding him were all thinking of currying favor with him. When they saw Li going to look for someone, they followed him.

In this way, Li walked in front, and a large group of people followed behind. Some watched the fun, and some wanted to curry favor with her, so they stuck to her and tried to talk to her.

When Li realized what they meant, her eyes and nose almost turned up to the sky, and she raised her chin in triumph.

There were always people surrounding her, praising her and saying nice things to her.

Li was delighted to hear this and felt very happy.

She also saw several gossipy women who used to like to gather at the village entrance and gossip, saying that her son would never be able to make a name for himself in his life. Now that her son had passed the imperial examination, he was flattering her and came to please her.

Li put on a very poised posture, raised her chin, and straightened her back a little.

…

Outside the courtyard, after Li opened the door, she only heard a few noisy conversations.

After Li went out, the crowd that was surrounding her followed her, and the yard returned to peace.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!